The Best Tools to Tame Your Windows Right-Click Menu in 2026
Windows accumulates clutter. Every program you install wants a piece of your “Right-Click” real estate. Over time, this leads to the infamous ContextMenu bloat.
In this detailed review, we compare the best utilities available today for managing, disabling, and debugging Shell Extensions.
1. NirSoft ShellExView (The Classic)
Verdict: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Best Overall)
ShellExView has been the industry standard for over a decade. It’s lightweight (portable), free, and incredibly detailed.
- Pros: Shows Clsid, Company, File Version, and attributes. Allows bulk disabling.
- Cons: UI looks like Windows 98 (but that’s part of the charm/efficiency).
- Best For: Diagnosis of crashes and slow menus.
2. Sysinternals Autoruns
Verdict: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Best for Security)
Owned by Microsoft, Autoruns is the nuclear option. It usually shows too much information for the average user, but for a sysadmin, it’s gold.
- Pros: Covers everything starting with Windows, not just shell extensions.
- Cons: easy to break your system if you uncheck the wrong box.
- Best For: hunting malware and deep system persistence.
3. Easy Context Menu (Sordum)
Verdict: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Best for Customization)
If you want to add useful items (like “Copy IP”, “Open in Notepad”, “Take Ownership”) rather than just remove bad ones, this is the tool.
- Pros: Modern interface, very easy to clean up menus.
- Cons: Less diagnostic info than ShellExView.
4. Revo Uninstaller Pro (The Heavy Lifter)
Verdict: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Best for Clean Removal)
While ShellExView handles the menu items, Revo handles the programs behind them. If you have a stubborn context menu item from an app you already “uninstalled”, Revo detects the leftovers.
- Pros: Removes registry keys and files standard uninstallers miss. Features a dedicated “Hunter Mode” to find the app owning a window or icon.
- Best For: Completely scrubbing an application and its shell extensions from your system.
- Get Revo Uninstaller Pro (Discounted)
Comparison Table
| Feature | ShellExView | Autoruns | Revo Uninstaller |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free | Paid (Cheap) |
| Portable | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Malware Scan | No | VT Integrated | Junk Scan |
| UI Quality | Low | Medium | High |
| Risk Level | Low | High | Low |
Why You Should Avoid “Registry Cleaners”
We often see tools claiming to “Fix Shell Errors” automatically. Using aggressive registry cleaners can often break the COM associations that make Shell Extensions work.
Recommendation: Stick to the tools listed above. If you need a general cleaner, we recommend Revo’s built-in junk cleaner over aggressive registry tools.
For Developers
Want to build your own tools? Check out our dev guide on writing performant extensions.
Read Developer Guide →Stubborn Leftovers?
If an extension remains after uninstalling the app, use Revo to force-remove the registry keys.
Get Revo Uninstaller →